Big cultural event to open with Zhang Guoyong's baton

After conducting a concert with Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra at the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires earlier this month, Zhang Guoyong went to watch a tango performance.

Although the neighborhood - far from downtown, where he was staying - looked like a regular place, the performance was unusual. Couples in their 80s danced the Argentine tango.

Not professional dancers, their moves caught Zhang's eye.

"They danced at a venue which isn't even a formal theater. They couldn't raise their legs high or move their feet very fast because they aren't young. But they showed me what real tango is, which is totally different from a carefully choreographed dance show," Zhang, 58, tells China Daily.

He says he couldn't help but wonder: what if Chinese musicians worked with the same elderly people.

Zhang, the artistic director of the Shanghai Opera House and Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, has collaborated with renowned musicians both at home and abroad.

"Such art-related exchange programs link China with the rest of the world," he says.

The conductor's latest mission is to serve as artistic director for the opening concert of the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival, one of China's largest annual cultural events. Held for the past 15 years, the festival will open on Monday and run through May.

With Canada picked as the guest country of honor this year, the opening concert at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing will see Canadian artists and Chinese musicians, including Buzz Brass Quintet, Ottawa Bach Choir and Ensemble Caprice Baroque Orchestra.

Under the baton of Zhang, the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra will open the night by performing Chinese composer Bao Yuankai's Antiphonal of Flowers, adapted from Chinese folk songs.

Zhang worked with Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time this month, and adapted four pieces selected from Bao's Chinese Sights and Sounds, a 24-piece collection for Chinese folk orchestra.

"I did not expect the audience (in Buenos Aires) or musicians to enjoy the Chinese musical pieces so much. They told me that they were curious about China and learned about the country by performing and listening to the works," says Zhang.

The Shanghai native began his study in conducting at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the direction of renowned conductor and music educator Huang Xiaotong.

He then went for further studies to the P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire, from 1993 to 1997, and was mentored there by maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

For the Meet in Beijing opening show, Zhang has chosen pieces such as Uranus, the Magician Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity from The Planets by Gustav Holst, featuring organist Melanie Barney, Johann Sebastian Bach's Lobet den Herrn, BWV 230 and the Canadian folk song Red River Valley.

His aim is to increase the understanding between Chinese and Canadian musicians, as well as pave the way for future collaborations.

"We seize every opportunity to bring Chinese artists and international artists together," he says.

Canadian soprano Katherine Whyte, who has been singing with The Metropolitan Opera in New York, will perform the Chinese song Binding a Plait with a Red Ribbon, from the classic Chinese opera The White-Haired Girl. She will also sing the Chinese song I Love You, China, along with Chinese baritone Yang Xiaoyong.

Vancouver-based GOH Ballet will premiere its latest work, Winged Away, accompanied by the music of Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto No 4, Le Quattro Stagioni, featuring Chinese violinist Liu Ming.

Music brings people together despite different languages and costumes, Zhang says.

"Many international artists come to China every year, and we should send more of our artists abroad."